'Marriage isn't for you' viral blog post now published as book

Wednesday

May 7, 2014 at 12:01 AMMay 7, 2014 at 5:52 PM

A viral blog post about being selfless in marriage has now been published as a book.

Faith Heaton Jolley

SARASOTA, Fla. - A viral blog post about being selfless in marriage has now been published as a book.
Seth Adam Smith first published "Marriage Isn't for You" on his website, Forward Walking, on Nov. 2, 2013. The article immediately went viral and has since had over 30 million page views and was translated into over 20 languages.
Smith said the blog post was a result of some advice his father had given him about being unselfish in marriage and that he remembered it after an argument with his wife, Kim.
"I had to write something really quick, and that's what came to my mind," Smith said. "My dad gave me this advice and (I thought) I'd just write it, and it was really one of the quickest articles I had ever written because I had thought about it so much. I've never pushed out an article that easily."
Smith said that he was surprised at the popularity of his article but that it was a message that seemed to resonate with many people in many different countries, as evidenced by the 3,000 messages and emails that he has received since the article was posted.
He and his wife were married in April 2012, and he said that they did not experience "the honeymoon year of newlywed bliss" that many couples talk about, but that the message of his article has helped shape their marriage.
"We are two very, very different personalities, very different people," Smith said. "We were struggling because we just couldn't get our personalities to fit under the same roof. And it really didn't change until the fight and the resolution (mentioned in the blog post.) Now, it's never been better. Because I think we have both really embraced the idea in the book."
Due to the popularity of the post, Smith said he was able to pay for a much-needed eye surgery for his wife. He said they had moved to Florida from Utah so she could attend veterinarian school and that she had started having problems with her eyes. He had considered getting a second job to afford the surgery, but that the revenue from the post had made up the difference.
Now the 714-word blog post has been published by Shadow Mountain and was released Tuesday as a 48-page gift book. Smith said the experience has opened many doors for him, including two other book contracts.
"It's allowed me to write, blog for a living, which I love," Smith said. "I love being able to write, and it's just all inspirational material and I just love being able to do that all day."
However, Smith said he doesn't take the credit for his virtual success.
"Because I'm married to Kim, loving her has opened the doors to all of these other doors," he said. "It was never me. I was the idiot in the whole story. I was the one making mistakes. It was my dad and Kim - it was other people who saved me from myself."
The book is available on amazon.com. Smith said in the first 24 hours, the book jumped in rankings from 640,650 to 2,501 on Amazon and is also ranked No. 29 in the category of marriage.
Smith has another book coming out in September called "Your life isn't for you" where he shares a personal experience of a suicide attempt and gives hope to those struggling with addiction and depression.
"When you give your life away, that is when you actually start to live your life," he said.%3Cimg%20src%3D%22http%3A//beacon.deseretconnect.com/beacon.gif%3Fcid%3D169154%26pid%3D46%22%20/%3E